Chapter 3 Summary

Each hilltop redoubt flies a flag. It serves to identify the side, Nationalist or Republican, which controls that hilltop. The front line zigzags from hilltop to hilltop so extensively that, without the flags, ownership would be difficult to ascertain. Most of the Nationalists fly the Fascist or Monarchist flag, while the Republicans fly the POUM, PSUC, Loyalist or anarchist flag.

Orwell gets promoted to Cabo, roughly the equivalent of Corporal, and is sent out on numerous, pointless patrols. The steep terrain makes the patrols difficult, and the bitter cold makes the particularly unappealing. The entire Republican front line in this area is held by militia units, as, beginning in 1937, the Popular Army is being organized in the rear areas.

At the outbreak of war, many unions and political groups immediately fielded small militia units to resist the Nationalist attack. The militia units were...